Wednesday might be my new favorite day of the week
by kittyinthelibrary
Summary: During a cozy evening at the Burrow, Fred convinces Hermione to take more breaks.


Hermione loved the sound of rain. Nothing felt better than curling up with a nice, long book, a cup of tea, and a blanket while the rain made a soft pattering sound on the roof. Hermione was just settling in for what seemed to be a nice, relaxing Sunday afternoon when the door crashed open, and in came four drenched redheads and one drenched man with jet-black hair. All of them were laughing.

"All-right there, Granger?" Fred asked when he spotted her curled up in the armchair by the window. He was grinning from ear to ear, even as his clothes dripped on the rug.

"Your mum will kill you if you get mud all over the living-room." Was her only reply. As Fred laughed and Ron rolled his eyes, Ginny got out her wand and started drying her hair as she walked over towards the hallway bathroom. Harry followed her, wringing out his shirt, while Ron and the twins kicked off their shoes and merely shook droplets of water out of their hair.

"How was quidditch?" Hermione asked, looking at Ron.

"Wish you had joined in. It's unfair, playing three against two."

"I fail to see how I would have made any difference."

Before anyone could reply, Mrs. Weasley came in, arms full of shopping from Diagon Alley. Hermione saw the twins and Ron all exchange looks before slipping out of the sitting room, probably to dry off properly, and so she stood to help Mrs. Weasley carry her purchases into the kitchen. She glanced at the rug on her way and hoped the boys would come back down to clean up the mud before Mrs. Weasley noticed.

Soon Hermione was helping Mrs. Weasley with dinner by peeling potatoes at the counter. The rain was still tapping lightly against the windowpane, and the smell of vegetables and spices was in the air, along with the slight wood-burning smell of the kitchen fire.

"Can I help?"

Hermione and Mrs. Weasley looked over at Fred, standing in the doorway to the kitchen. He had washed off the mud and changed into dry clothes, and he leaned casually against the door frame, smiling slightly at Hermione.

Mrs. Weasley beamed. "Of course, Freddie! Do you mind making the salad?"

"Not at all!" Fred moved into the kitchen, and began washing lettuce in the sink. Hermione, still peeling potatoes, glanced over at him from time.

"What's everyone else doing?" Asked Mrs. Weasley

"George is writing a letter to Angelina. I believe her quidditch team is up in Scotland at the moment. Ron & Harry are playing chess, Ginny's with them."

"So you're helping because you had nobody better to be with?" Teased Hermione.

"'Course not, Herms." Hermione pulled a face at the nickname. She hated it, and Fred knew it. "There is no couple of witches I'd rather be with." Hermione rolled her eyes and, having finished peeling the potatoes, began chopping.

"Well, thank you." Said Mrs. Weasley. "Merlin knows I could do with you lot offering to help out more often."

"Mum, you know how busy we are. These Sundays are the only relaxation we get! But of course," He continued, catching sight of his Mother's face, "Any time spent with you is always worth the effort." He winked at Hermione, who felt her cheeks heat up slightly. "When's dad getting home?"

"Should be any moment now," Mrs. Weasley replied, glancing out the window for her husband. As if on cue, Hermione noticed Arthur Weasley's hand on Mrs. Weasley's clock turn from _work_ to _traveling_ and then, at the same instant that they all heard a faint _pop_ just outside the door to the house, the hand snapped to _home._ Mrs. Weasley visibly relaxed. Hermione didn't think she ever stopped worrying about her family, even once the war was ended. Fred had a smile on, too.

As Mr.s Weasley kissed her husband on the cheek and started to ask him about his day, Fred leaned in toward Hermione.

"So, Hermione. Why is it that you never want to join in on our quidditch games?"

"I do join in sometimes! I just… prefer safer activities most of the time."

He considered this for a moment. "Are you afraid of flying?"

"No, of course I'm not afraid!" Hermione bristled slightly. "I'm just… not always the most comfortable on a broom…"

"Oh, I'm sure I can help with that."

"Really, I'm perfectly content doing my own thing. I have lots of reading to catch up on, and reports to write, and… "

"You have a lot of work to do, in other words."

Hermione looked over at Fred. He had used magic to start slicing the tomatoes, and was frowning at them, looking contemplative. Hermione, on the other hand, had stopped working altogether as she looked at him. "I have a very demanding job."

"We all have a lot of work. But Sunday is a day of rest." He tossed the tomatoes in with the rest of the salad and grabbed her hand. "You need more down time. We're playing exploding snap. Right now." He turned to his mother. "Sorry, Mum. This is urgent."

Mrs. Weasley waved her hand as they left the kitchen, implying that she was fine with it.

In the sitting room, Fred got out the exploding snap cards and began shuffling, indicating with a nod of his head that Hermione should sit across from him. Ron & Harry, still playing chess with Ginny sitting and watching with her head on Harry's shoulder, barely glanced up. They were too intent on the game at hand.

"Let's make a deal, Granger."

Hermione groaned, and Fred grinned.

"If you win," Fred began, "I won't ever scold you for working during a Sunday at the Burrow again. But if I win," He continued, grinning as he looked into Hermione's eyes, '' you join us in next week's quidditch game. Deal?"

"Fine." She acquiesced. "I'll definitely win anyway."

Fred winked. "We'll see about that."

There was a moment of quiet as Fred dealt the cards, and Hermione could hear the rain still falling outside, and the quiet clink of a chess piece as Harry made a move.

Hermione played competitively, while Fred laughed and made jokes. George wandered down at one point to watch, and the twins fell into an easy and familiar rhythm of joking around, but even so, Fred never lost his focus on the game. He won, and easily.

"You cheated." She said. "You must have."

Fred clutched a hand to his heart in mock shock. "I would never!"

"Come on, Hermione." Cut in Ginny, who had been watching a bit from across the room. "He's just that good. As you should know from our Hogwarts days."

Hermione glared at her friend, who merely smirked in reply.

"So!" Fred said, clapping his hands together. "I am so pleased you'll be playing with us next week." He was positively beaming, and after a sigh, Hermione nodded. "Yes, I suppose I will be…"

At that point, Mrs. Weasley called them all into the kitchen for tea, and they gathered around the table to eat. Hermione wound up across from Fred, who, along with George, soon had the whole family laughing with tales from the joke shop. As he talked, Hermione studied Fred's face. The entire Weasley family was good looking, but Hermione found something particularly attractive about the laugh lines around his eyes. Hermione gave a start when, upon finishing his story, Fred locked eyes with her and winked. She blushed and turned back to her food. As the conversation turned elsewhere, he leaned across the table toward her.

"You should come by this week, and see our new merchandise in person."

"I'm very busy, Fred."

"I know. It's why you need us. To help you de-stress. Laugh. How about Wednesday? A good mid-week treat."

She looked back at him. He smiled, and his laugh lines crinkled. She couldn't help smiling back.

"Alright, then. Wednesday."

The rest of the evening continued with everyone feeling full, and content, and cozy. Eventually everyone flooed home to their respective flats, and Hermione went to bed feeling as though it had been rather a nice afternoon after all, even without the luxury of reading undisturbed.

The start of Hermione's week was so busy that she started feeling slightly frazzled. On Wednesday evening she was so intent on the report she was working on that she lost track of time. When she realized it was nearly 6 p.m., she hastily packed up her things, and, as she grabbed a pinch of floo powder from the jar on her office fireplace, she realized that she was quite looking forward to this "mid-week treat".

When she arrived in front of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, it was every bit as noisy and colorful as she walked in and there was something for all her senses to experience. Toys whirred above, emitting puffs of colorful smoke, groups of children and teens were chattering as they admired everything in the store, and she could immediately smell gunpowder and a rather sugary scent that wafted over from the wall of skiving snackboxes. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Fred, beaming down at her. His smile was contagious, and so Hermione beamed right back. Yes, this was just what she needed at the end of the day.

"Hi!" She said. She looked around. "The shop looks wonderful."

He enveloped her in a hug. "Let me show you what's new!"

He began to lead her through the store. "How was your day?"

"Fine. Busy. A bit stressful, but I got a lot done."

He nodded. "I'm sure. You've always been a hard worker."

She looked around thoughtfully and replied, "Well, so have you. In your own way."

He laughed. "It's about time someone noticed!"

They stopped in front of a rack of notebooks. Hermione frowned. "Since when do you sell school supplies?"

"Really? The skiving snackboxes were one of our first products!"

She rolled her eyes. "Those are more like… anti-school supplies."

"Well then, so are these! Or, they can be used that way…" He pulled one off the rack, and Hermione realized that they were really two notebooks that were tied together in a bundle.

"They're twin notebooks." Fred explained, "If you write in one, the message also appears in its twin. So, you could be in class, pretending to be an excellent notetaker, when in reality you're having an in-depth conversation with a friend in another class! And here." He untied the bundle and handed one to Hermione. "Now we can chat throughout the week."

Hermione took the notebook, and looked back at Fred. "Really?"

"Really."

"And how many other girls are you handing out notebooks to?"

There was that grin again. "Just you. I like talking to you."

"Teasing me."

His smile softened slightly. "Talking to you."

"Ok." She wasn't sure how else to respond. An odd, swooping feeling had occurred in her stomach. It wasn't dissimilar to the feeling of being on a broom that was descending too quickly. "Thank you."

"So." Fred began, all business again. "Next on the tour."

Fred introduced Hermione to a few new WWW products. Hermione giggled at the animal crackers that turned noses or ears into snouts or cat ears, or sometimes gave you a tail. Whiskers were still sprouted from Fred's cheeks when he left her in order to help a customer, and Hermione wandered over to the cage of pygmy puffs in order to indulge herself as she admired how adorable they were.

Soon it was time to close up shop, and as Fred & George sent the self-sweeping brooms in motion and locked up the doors, Hermione began to say goodnight.

"Have you eaten already then?" Asked Fred. He looked slightly anxious about her leaving.

"No, but I can just heat something up at home."

Fred shook his head. "Won't you join us at the Leaky Cauldron? They have a wonderful steak and kidney pie."

Steak and kidney pie did sound loads better the scrounging through the pantry in search of something edible, and so she agreed.

"Not me, though." Cut in George. "Angelina's team returned this evening. I'm meeting up with her."

"Oh, well…" Hermione looked uncertainly at Fred, who merely shrugged and said, "A table for two then. I'll just change out of my work clothes and be right out."

As Hermione waited, she started thinking about Fred. Recently she'd noticed that he seemed to be paying more attention to her than usual. The game of exploding snap on Sunday, then inviting her here… and she had noticed him looking at her a lot during Sunday dinners at the Burrow for the past few weeks. Was it possible that he was interested in her as more than a friend? _Or perhaps_, she thought, looking down at her new notebook, _he's only interested in more ideas for the shop_. She allowed herself to briefly contemplate what dating someone like Fred would be like anyway, and was slightly surprised to think that it might be pleasant. The swooping sensation had returned to her stomach, but before she could think much more on it, Fred was back.

He stuck out his elbow, indicating that she should take it. "Shall we?" He asked.

Hermione looped her hand in, and nodded. "We shall."

As they walked from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes toward the Leaky Cauldron, and as Hermione was laughing at yet another of Fred's jokes, she felt so content and comfortable that she blurted it out.

"We should do this more often."

Fred put his other hand on hers, which was still resting in the crook of his elbow, and gave it a squeeze.

"Yeah?"

"Yes." She said, definitively.

"How about every Wednesday? It could be a standing date."

She nodded, and smiled. "Alright." And then, after a pause, "You know, I think Wednesday might be my new favorite day of the week."


End file.
